Mark McMorris Biography – 5 Things To Know About The Snowboarder

Quick Facts

When it comes to the sport of snowboarding, the name Mark McMorris is a household name for lovers of the sports. He started snowboarding at a very young age; he started off well and has earned several medals while breaking and setting several records in snowboarding – even more than most persons that have been in the terrain before him.

Irrespective of the challenges he encountered on his way to perfection, he never gave up. Mark McMorris is a young man that discovered what he loved doing and went for it with great determination and effort, which has made him a legend in his field. The trailblazer is not even done yet; he is still waxing strong in what he does and we just can’t get enough of his talent and always look forward to what next he has for us.

Who is Mark McMorris?

Mark McMorris was born on December 9, 1993, in Regina Saskatchewan, and grew up there alongside his elder brother, Craig McMorris, and parents – Cindy McMorris, his mother who is a nurse and Don McMorris a grain farmer and a provincial politician in Saskatchewan. He schooled at Dr. Martin LeBoldus High School and became a professional snowboarder after trying his hands on wakeboarding.

At the age of twelve, in the year 2006, he attempted setting a world record when he rode round Lake Wascana with his wakeboard which was pulled behind a dragon boat for 3.5 minutes. His first FIS Snowboard World Cup competition was in the big air event at the 2009-2010 season where he finished eighth place in Quebec City, after which he came out victorious at slopestyle in Calgary.

He started winning several awards right from the earliest stage of his career. Before he turned eighteen in the year 2011, he participated in the Winter X Games and he got a silver medal with his fellow Canadian competitor, Sebastien Toutant, coming first place in the slopestyle competition. He had a taste of victory and received a gold medal at the World Snowboard Tour’s Air & Style Competition that same year.

The next year, 2012, at the Winter X Games XVI, he received double gold having come first place in the slopestyle event and also the Big Air event. This award hadn’t been given to any other person after Shaun White in the year 2009.

2013 was a better year for him as his excellent performance at the Winter X Games XVII earned him a gold award in slopestyle with the best score in the history of X-Games Slopestyle. He also got awarded a silver medal haven lost to Torstein Horgmo in the Big Air event. At Winter X Games XVIII in 2014, he lost to Max Parrot, another Canadian snowboarder in the slopestyle event where he had always been first place in the past two seasons.

He received the silver award due to a fractured rib that was incurred when he tripped on the rails during the competition but never gave up till the race was completed. Despite the incident, McMorris was still pleased with his performance as he said the progress he made even with a broken rib was unexplainable.

In the year 20015, at Winter X Games XIX, he got right up and got himself a double gold at the Big Air and Slopestyle events. Winter X Games XX in 2016 earned him a gold medal in slopestyle and siver in Big Air. He had an accident after his 2016 games while in Los Angeles for Shaun Whites’s Air+Style Big Air as his right femur got broken during a frontside triple cork 1440 attempt. He was at Fortius Sports & Health in Vancouver for treatments, however, the accident didn’t stop him from showing up at the games the next year where he got himself two bronze awards.

In 2018, eleven months after the accident, he came back to compete at the Winter Olympics where he represented Canada and came third place losing to Max Parrot and Red Gerard.

Five Things To Know About The Snowboarder

He is one of the greatest and most successful snowboarder

It won’t come as a surprise to know that Mark McMorris is one of the most talented persons when it comes to snowboarding, having won seven golds, six silver and three bronze making a total of sixteen medals so far and still counting.

His brother is also a snowboarder

With the talents of McMorris, one can tell snowboarding is an inborn thing, and to also learn that his only sibling, Craig McMorris, his elder brother share the same gift and has also competed in several competitions himself is surely something. Perhaps the funny part of it is that they were not even exposed to snowboarding while growing up and so no one would have expected such talent to come from their family.

He loves tattoos

This great snowboarder seems to have a thing for tattoos as he has lots of them inked on his body. Some of the ones that can be seen on him are images of some sheaves of a wheat, lake, and mountains and of course, there will probably be some we cannot see.

The McMorris brothers’ are philanthropists

The two brothers are not just gifted but are also great humanitarians who have realized that not every child has the luxury of having access to sport as they did. This made the brothers set up a foundation in 2012 called McMorris Foundation where Canadian youths are given the opportunity to explore their athletic potentials at an affordable rate and also accessible atmosphere.

He’s got strange nicknames

Just like most persons, Mark McMorris also had nicknames while growing up, but he seemed to have weird and really unique nicknames which are mostly different from the normal nicknames we are familiar with. His brother, Craig said he was nicknamed a piglet while growing up. ‘McLovin’ became his nickname when he started snowboarding, and he was given this name because of his awesome, happy, kind and positive nature.

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